Eating and Drinking in Kenya

The combination of the abundance of natural produce, the multicultural heritage of Kenya including the influence of English, Indian and Middle Eastern cuisines is reflected in a wide range of gourmet foods, making Kenya a great culinary nation.

As well as being refreshing and carefully prepared, Kenya's national dishes are inexpensive to make and are served in generous portions. In addition many of the dishes are very healthy and provide little calories in our body. Remember to consider your basal metabolic rate, the daily amount of calories you consume per day.

Food varies throughout the country, reflecting the many different lifestyles of the various groups, by example the Maasai do not eat any game only depends from the livestock that they raise. People living near Lake Victoria mainly prepares fish stews, vegetable dishes and rice

Kenya offers an assortment of traditional dishes which consist in beef, chicken, lamb, pork, seafood, rice, beans, maize, potatoes; herbs and species are not common. Kenya has a wide variety of tropical fruits including bananas, pineapples, papayas and seasonal citrus fruits

Molasses is widely used for baked goods in Kenya country. This food high in magnesium is a key in human metabolism. The most common forms of molasses are made from either sugar cane or sugar beet juice which is boiled down to a syrup.

Restaurants in Kenya

There are also types of restaurants, mainly in Mombasa and Nairobi, from fast food (mostly Steers and Nandos chains) to some of the finest restaurants in Africa, where you will find elaborate buffets of traditional Kenyan dishes, as well as Brazilian, Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Korean, German and French cuisines. Food is cheap in the numerous "hotelis" (local restaurants) but, at times, choices in the menus are limited. There are many restaurant serving excellent vegetarian meals, specially from Indian and Pakistani cuisine.

One of the Kenyan specialities is Nyama Choma (barbecued goat's meat), the favorite dish which is included in the typical festivities, probably the best place to eat Nyama Choma is the restaurant Nairobi's Carnivore. Other common staple seen all over Kenya is Ugali, is essentially a pasty substance made from white corn flour, pieces of usually are eaten with stew and greens. Another traditional Kenyan food is Kenyeji (also called mukimu or irio) made of corn, beans, potatoes, and greens mashed and fried in onions; Chapatti (fried bread), Samosa (mince meat in a triangle pastry), Kebabs, and Pilau.

Drinks in Kenya

Sodas and beers are widely available in Kenya, but these are typically served warm; fresh fruit juices are available too, as well as imported and local wines (prices can be high), you must avoid local brews like "changaa" and "busaa", which are illegal and dangerous.

Tea is the official drink of Kenya, tea and coffee are excellent thanks to its ideal growing climate, but most of these are exported, many hotels and restaurants serve instant coffee. Chai (strong tea with milk and sugar) and mandazi (similar to a doughnuts but a lot flatter) is usually taken for breakfast.

Beer is the second favorite drink, the major beer brands are Tusker and White Cap lagers, offered in most locations, in rural areas are served common local beers known as "muratina", drink these at your risk. Kenyans tend to drink cheaper beer like Senator, which has high alcohol content.